United’s roomier Premium Plus seats on sale

Purple premium economy comes to international routes starting in March

Chris McGinnis

Published
5:38 pm PST, Thursday, November 29, 2018

United Airlines' new Premium Plus seat on a Boeing 777-200ER- the cabin has privacy walls front and rear

United Airlines' new Premium Plus seat on a Boeing 777-200ER- the cabin has privacy walls front and rear

Photo: Chris McGinnis

Photo: Chris McGinnis

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United Airlines' new Premium Plus seat on a Boeing 777-200ER- the cabin has privacy walls front and rear

United Airlines' new Premium Plus seat on a Boeing 777-200ER- the cabin has privacy walls front and rear

Photo: Chris McGinnis

United’s roomier Premium Plus seats on sale

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United's roomy new international premium economy cabin, which it calls United Premium Plus, will be officially introduced on its 777-200ERs, 777-300ERs and 787-10s starting March 30, and should be available on 21 global routes from three U.S. hubs – San Francisco, Newark and Washington Dulles -- by the end of May.

United has been refitting its existing aircraft for several months with the new purple premium seats being offered as "Economy Plus extra-legroom seats" (at no extra cost) until a full roll-out was ready. United now says its new Premium Plus seating category will go on sale December 3.

From San Francisco, Premium Plus will debut on 777-300ERs to Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Taipei, Tel Aviv and Tokyo Narita starting March 30, and to London Heathrow on April 29. Also on March 30, the new cabin will be introduced on 777-200ERs from SFO to Auckland, Beijing, Frankfurt and Paris.

At Newark, passengers will see Premium Plus on 777-300ERs to Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel Aviv and Tokyo Narita; on 777-200ERs to Brussels and Paris; and on 787-10s to Frankfurt and Tel Aviv, all starting March 30. United 777-200s from Washington Dulles will roll out the new cabin to Brussels March 30, to Paris April 29, and to Tel Aviv May 22. Additional 787-10 Premium Plus service from Newark to Paris and Barcelona starts April 29, and to Brussels and Dublin begins May 22.

Besides being available for purchase, the new seats will be available for upgrades with MileagePlus miles. "For upgrades, either a single Global Premier Upgrade or a MileagePlus Upgrade Award can be used to move up to a United Premium Plus seat or to United's Polaris business class cabin," the airline said.

Premium Plus will be a step up from Economy Plus with seats that offer more legroom and elbow room and greater recline. (See more photos in slideshow at the top of this post.)

In-flight service includes free meals and snacks as well as free beer, wine and liquor. Premium Plus travelers will get an amenities kit, Saks Fifth Avenue blanket and plush pillow, noise-reducing headphones, a larger seatback screen, and seats with power and USB ports. They'll also find extra storage "for customers to keep devices at hand throughout their entire flight," United said.

United gave us an early look (see that here) at one of the first reconfigured 777-200s several months ago at SFO. The aircraft had 24 Premium Plus seats in a 2-4-2 layout – just half as many as its 50 Polaris business class seats. By comparison, economy class seating is 10-across. The Premium Plus seats are separated from other classes by walls in front and behind.

United is the last of the U.S. Big Three international airlines to introduce a dedicated premium economy seating category. Foreign international airlines like British Airways, Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific and Singapore have offered premium economy for some time, and more carriers are adding it every year.

Have you flown in premium economy on any airline yet? What did you think? Great value...or not? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.